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@mavluchThu, 29 Mar 2018 10:23:14 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.6http://mathiasvanluchene.be/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/cropped-MV-1-32x32.pnghttp://mathiasvanluchene.be
323278358427This is my main reason to use Instagramhttp://mathiasvanluchene.be/my-main-reason-to-use-instagram/
http://mathiasvanluchene.be/my-main-reason-to-use-instagram/#respondWed, 04 Nov 2015 15:54:21 +0000http://mathiasvanluchene.be/?p=131Last year, I started using Instagram. I soon realized that I could use Instagram on a different way to help me with my wanderlust ...

]]>Last year, I started using Instagram. After seeing a magnificent series of pictures of a Friend on Facebook, I joined Instagram just to follow him. His name is Amir and you can find his pictures here. He only takes b/w pictures, mostly in an urban environment. Check out his profile, he’s really good!

I remember I was in Prague at the moment. My first pictures were some posts from an empty stadium I discovered with a friend. You try some hashtags, you get some likes. It’s exciting when strangers like your picture. And it’s remarkable that a simple hashtag can reach so many people. The app has a really big and active user group, that’s for sure.

I was staying for just a few months in Prague, and there were a lot of Czech people connecting with me. They either liked my pictures or started following me. Soon I also discovered people from the area I was staying, and it was cool to see some buildings I knew. I recognized a street, a coffee bar, or a sculpture. It convinced me even more to go back to the app.

After these few months, I moved to Paris with my girlfriend. We were going to stay 5 months there. I loved Paris already from my teenage years. It was a dream to live there one day and now that dream came finally true. I visited Paris often before. My longest stay in the city was 2 weeks, during which I visited most of the highlights in the city. Now it was finally time to really get to know this amazing city.

After posting some pictures of Paris, I soon connected with a lot of Parisians and tourists in the city. I saw spectacular pictures popping up on my Instagram feed. All of them were from the beautiful city I was living in. I soon realized that I could discover the best places, just by following the right people. And that’s what I did. Discovering new places, sometimes off the beaten track, is now my main reason to use Instagram.

That day, I decided to geotag all of my pictures. It’s not always easy to put the exact location on a photo you took, especially when you’re abroad and don’t have any mobile internet. But I do my best, and I hope that someday someone will decide to visit a place thanks to my Instagram picture.

Please geotag your Instagram pictures. It helps other people discover the beautiful hidden places of a city, some cosy coffee bars, impressive buildings, or just marvellous views.

This part is where it gets interesting for small business owners. Being on Instagram gives people the opportunity to discover your place from the inside, with personal stories. You don’t even have to create all the content yourself. Many people like to take pictures of their food or the interior of their favourite coffee place. The only thing you have to do is create an own unique hashtag for your business and encourage customers to tag it on their pictures. That way, you have a continuous supply of customer pictures and stories. It’s your choice then to repost the best ones, using a repost app like this one, as long as you give credit to the original Instagramer.

If you would like to see what I discovered the past year, have a look at my Instagram profile here. There are pictures from Czech Republic, Paris, Stockholm, China, Hong Kong, Vienna, Graz and Belgium. There are also a few from Malaysia and Myanmar, but that was a #latergram.

]]>http://mathiasvanluchene.be/my-main-reason-to-use-instagram/feed/0131These are my 6 favourite places to work from in Paris, and why I need all of them.http://mathiasvanluchene.be/these-are-my-6-favourite-places-to-work-from-in-paris-and-why-i-need-all-of-them/
http://mathiasvanluchene.be/these-are-my-6-favourite-places-to-work-from-in-paris-and-why-i-need-all-of-them/#respondMon, 30 Mar 2015 11:20:12 +0000http://mathiasvanluchene.be/?p=85For the past 5 months, I was lucky enough to be living in Paris. In this article, I will share with you the 6 coffee bars or co-working spaces I enjoy the most. It is no ranking. Where I go depends on my mood and what I want to get done...

]]>For the past 5 months, I was lucky enough to be living in Paris. I am helping small companies with their online presence and social media, so I can pretty much work from wherever I want. Yes, it’s pretty sweet!

I explored a lot in Paris, you can see that especially on my Instagram account. In this article, I will share with you the 6 coffee bars or co-working spaces I enjoy the most. It is no ranking. Where I go depends on my mood and what I want to get done.

I need all of these different places because I got used to working from wherever I want as an entrepreneur. To be at one place for eight hours seems simply impossible and lowers my productivity.

This coffee bar is attached to the Finnish institute. There’s often art on the windows and walls, and the room is filled with natural light. In the front of the building you can get inspired by minimalistic Finnish design. Only a few seats are reserved for laptop work, and that makes it so good. I prefer to go here in the morning. They have incredibly good coffee and they know what they’re doing. It’s a perfect boost to start your day. If you are lucky, you can even attend a free coffee degustation!

Around you, people are discussing projects, reading the newspaper, or having a casual meetup. I lost count of all the different languages I heard here. And sometimes, that motivates me.

As part of a big co-working office, nomads are welcomed in the front of the building. Particular rules are set to keep you working without worries. The first hour you pay 4 euro, the following hours 3 euro. You can pause this time whenever you want, and receive unlimited coffee and tea. As a coffee lover, I doubted a lot to mention this place. It eventually made the list because I like this place for the big start-up network they have. It almost did not make the list because the coffee is pretty much rubbish and comes in plastic cups. There’s not much talking, but since the room is big enough, you’re not afraid to start a conversation or make some phone calls. This place comes with a big community behind it. Be sure to check their website to join some events.

If you want to work very focused, come to this place. This is the place where you bent over your laptop and only look up after one hour. It’s a tiny place. There’s room for about 25 people, but you’re sitting very close to each other. This makes phone calls sometimes a bit of a problem. When 8 people around you are completely quiet, you tend to finish the phone call faster. The paying system is a bit different here. You pay 3 euro per hour, but you can spend that money on drinks and food, including good coffee.

This place breaths activity. In the huge area on the ground floor, there’s place for about 50 people, and it’s usually packed. When you’re here, you get work done. You see dozens of others working on their start-up, and it works very encouraging to do the same. If you want to talk about ideas, brainstorm with some people, or just have some feedback, this is the place to be. The start-up community is alive and kicking in this place, much more than any other in this list. There are also a few ‘connectors’ where you can go with questions. These volunteers usually have great feedback, or they know someone else who can help you. There are tons of activities in the rest of the building, and big chance you will meet your next business partner here.

There are three Anticafes in Paris. I only went to the one next to Olympiade. It’s integrated in a university campus, which results in a younger public. There’s a lot of movement and people working together, but there is also a quiet room. Also here you pay 4 euro per hour, but you get a lot in return: Unlimited (good) coffee, thee, bread, chips, cookies and fruit. The interior design is great and they have reasonable packages per week and per month. More people are working on school assignments than their own projects, so the start-up vibe is a bit lost here.

Although I said there isn’t a ranking, this is the one I prefer the most. Arobase is a coffee bar that combines a workplace with the cosiness of home. People come here to meet each other, teach language one-on-one, read the newspaper, and work. You can choose to have a seat in the couches, high seating, or normal chairs. There’s even a cosy basement and an outside seating area in the front. There’s a very relaxed vibe here, and just enough noise to work hard and make phone calls. I admit, especially writing articles and content happens from here. There’s just something that works here.

When I’m in Paris and need to work, big chance I will be here in the late afternoon. The only minus I can mention is the fact that the beer Leffe comes in orange juice glasses. Yes, that’s important. Did I mention I’m from Belgium?

For the next year, I will be living in Prague. Some say it is the next big start-up hub in Europe. It’s a bridge between West and East Europe. They welcome start-ups without the worries of high accommodation and living costs. Well, I can tell you, this is especially true if you’re coming from Paris.

I am more than ever motivated to get to know the Czech capital and its people. This means that I’m learning the Czech language, which is quite challenging. But I hope to learn more about the culture in general and of course, do some business here.

If you’re in Prague and you want to have a chat, let’s have a coffee together!

]]>http://mathiasvanluchene.be/these-are-my-6-favourite-places-to-work-from-in-paris-and-why-i-need-all-of-them/feed/085I don’t always use the Pomodoro technique, but when I do, I get crazy productive.http://mathiasvanluchene.be/pomodoro/
http://mathiasvanluchene.be/pomodoro/#commentsMon, 22 Dec 2014 23:09:50 +0000http://mathiasvanluchene.be/?p=63We all had it before: You have tons of work in front of you, so you keep on working until you have the feeling you’re not moving forward any more. Your body gets sleepy and it’s hard to get back into the zone. I was sick of these unproductive situations, and found the solution with the Pomodoro technique...

]]>We all had it before: You have tons of work in front of you, so you keep on working until you have the feeling you’re not moving forward any more. Your body gets sleepy and it’s hard to get back into the zone. I was sick of these unproductive situations, and found the solution with the Pomodoro technique.

The principle is simple. You work in short slots of 25 minutes. Then you take a break of 5 minutes, in which you get away from your desk. After four slots of 25 minutes, take a longer break from 15 to 30 minutes. 25 minutes of working is long enough to get work done, and short enough to hurry up because you see the time limit approaching.

A bit of background first. Pomodoro is Italian for tomato. The technique is named after the traditional cooking timer you use in your kitchen. Francesco Cirillo came up with the idea in the late 1980’s. Accordingly, you can name one interval a pomodoro, and multiple intervals get the name pomodori, the Italian plural for tomato.

-It’s not about hours worked. It’s about how much work you did at the end of the day.-

To get started, you should make a brief planning of your following pomodoro. Next, choose on a time limit for your task. The standard is 25 minutes, but you can adjust this to your preferences. You better don’t make it too long. When you see a tight limit, you tend to work faster than when you have all the time of the world. Use the tool of your preferences, but I recommend using something where you can quickly see how much time you have left. I currently use moosti.com, but you can easily use a common kitchen timer as well. Moosti is simple and does what it has to do. You can change your time preferences easily and you can choose between a short and a long break. I keep it open in a separate window, so I always see the time left in my taskbar on the bottom of my screen. It not only reminds me to keep on working, but also to keep on working hard.

-When you stay at your desk, you think you took a break, but your brain knows you didn’t.-

I can’t emphasize enough this rule. Do whatever you want, but get off your ass. Get up, start walking, jumping, dancing or whatever it takes to move your body. You can even do some small chores, such as swiping the floor or watering your plants.

I too like to stay up to date with friends and news on the internet. I check my Facebook and Twitter quickly in a half a minute during my short break on my phone while walking around. If I need some more time, I spend about 5 minutes during my long break. Spending more time on it is just a waste of time anyway. Thanks to the pomodoro technique, I question every link I click or every scroll I make: ‘Should I really spend my limited time on this article or just move on?’ In a lot of cases I choose the latter, while I save really interesting articles to read later in the evening.

What about you? How do you keep your focus?

I recommend everyone to try the Pomodoro technique. It helped me in a way I couldn’t imagine before. At the end of the day, I get a lot more done in a shorter time. Do you use a different method to boost your productivity? I’d love to read your tips in the comments or on Twitter. I’m always up to learn something new!

I challenged myself to write this post in 2 pomodori and 1 pomodoro to review and finish up. Turned out the third pomodoro could be shortened to just 10 minutes, which gave me time to make a detailed planning for the rest of my day to get things done. Pomodoro for the win!